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Email Marketing Trends 2018
Email Marketing Trends
2018
Email marketing trends 2018 Twitter: @commcorp 2
The Email Marketing Channel...
Email continues to maintain its stronghold in the digital landscape into 2018 with worldwide users surpassing the 3.8 billion mark. Despite the widely voiced opinion that email is dead, the stats boldly demonstrate otherwise. Marketers continue to reap the benefits of email marketing to its worldwide audience, with 59% stating that email is their most effective channel for generating the all-important £.
Scoping out the digital environment for 2018, many of the key trends we’ve seen impacting email throughout 2017 continue to remain prevalent for the year ahead, with a couple of interesting developments and new additions. Here’s what we’re keeping a close eye on over the next 12 months...
Email marketing trends 2018 Twitter: @commcorp 3
In 2018, the introduction of the new General Data Protection Regulation will mark the end of unsolicited data use. In other words, brands will only be able to process data if they have consent to do so, or instead risk crippling fines. Simple! 2017’s massive data breaches brought online privacy and security to the headlines, resulting in greater consumer awareness and understanding of their rights in the online landscape. During the purchasing process, something which would have been a mild consideration a few years ago, could now be a strong value proposition as we expect to see consumers prioritising companies that put their information security first into the New Year and beyond.
It’s commonly reported that marketers state data as one of their biggest challenges and although GDPR introduces tighter processes for marketers to follow, we expect GDPR to have a positive effect on how marketers collect, store and use data. It leaves no other option than careful review and consideration of all things data-related, thus resulting in better, sophisticated marketing techniques for the future. As one marketer meets the minimum legal standard, the next will need to go one step further as expectations increase along with this new standard. It’s a chain reaction effect and can only be a positive for the growth and value of email in the future.
Should you need any help on this topic, we have a full library of GDPR resources and an in-house compliance officer to ensure we’re all geared up for these imminent changes.
GDPR forces much needed attention on all things ‘data’
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Email marketing trends 2018 Twitter: @commcorp 4
AI and machine learning has established a rightful place in marketing headlines over the past couple of years. You probably already interact with marketing AI on a regular basis, from anything as common as ads in search results and social media, to AI powered segmentation. 57% of marketers already use AI. However, the opportunity to use AI for marketing is only growing stronger. In fact, it’s predicted to grow by 53% in the next two years alone.
AI presents an invaluable method of efficient data processing, allowing marketers to track customer behaviour down to an individual level in order to understand customer needs and interests. This in turn powers contextually relevant and targeted messages, connecting with recipients on a personal level and driving genuine value and engagement, ultimately boosting ROI.
The real value here is the significance of time-saving for marketers already juggling multiple digital platforms and channels. It’s the future of marketing automation and definitely one to keep a close eye on. Expect to see increased use of robots, chatbots, more intelligent segmentation, tailored pricing, to name just a few. AI will replace human effort where possible and will provide the marketer with the most valuable gift of all – more time.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) reigns supreme2
Email marketing trends 2018 Twitter: @commcorp 5
The average marketer’s activity in 2018 forms an extensive list:
Content continues as the customer journey cornerstone
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Reflecting on this list, it’s immediately apparent that there are very few tactical marketing methods that aren’t powered by content. You need good quality content as the cornerstone of any campaign. This obviously isn’t a new marketing phenomenon, inbound marketing tactics have focussed closely on content for a number of years now, the key is standing out. Brands will need to really focus on creating valuable, unique and personal content that speaks to the individual consumer to catch the attention of their audience.
As consumer expectations increase, brands need to respond with more valuable, varied and interesting content. The numbers reflect this, as marketers have already stated a shift towards creative content production with video advertising experiencing a massive 141% growth.
Content creates the experience to move the customer from the top of your sales funnel down to conversion. It’s at this stage where the all-important customer experience comes into play.
• Email marketing
• Website/landing pages
• Social media posts
• SEO/PPC
• Blogs and articles
• Whitepapers and guides
• Infographics
• Videos
• Webinars
• Lead-nurturing and relationship-building campaigns
• Customer education/knowledge sharing
• Content-driven sales messagesand materials
Email marketing trends 2018 Twitter: @commcorp 6
68% of marketers say their business is increasingly focusing on customer experience in marketing. Customer experience marketing is exactly what it says on the tin, making sure every single touch point a customer has with your brand is positive, valuable and even personalised. This is as important for acquiring new customers as it is for retaining existing, loyal customers.
Creating a positive experience for the customer is the very best way to create brand advocates. However, in today’s ‘internet of things’, this is becoming more of a challenge for marketers. It’s not an easy task to maintain a consistent consumer experience across every channel, it goes beyond a carefully mapped out email journey, it’s ensuring that the in-person experience reflects the online experience. It’s ensuring the customer has a great experience whether they’re sat at a desktop computer or using their smartphone. The variables are extensive and all equally important at maintaining this consistent experience.
What’s more, consumers are willing to share their data in exchange for these positive experiences, so if brands are falling short, even with the data they need to power these campaigns, they’ll lose-out. 52% of consumers are likely to switch brands if a company doesn’t personalise communications to them and 65% of business buyers are likely to switch brands if a vendor doesn’t personalise communications to their company. As a result, customer experience is arguably the key area of focus for 2018 and beyond.
Customer experience marketing increases4
Email marketing trends 2018 Twitter: @commcorp 7
Despite its popularity and previous success, Twitter’s recent attempts to revive its platform haven’t had the impact expected.In fact, the platform failed to expand its user base in 2017 despite its heavy focus on acquisition. Perhaps this is due to a lack of differentiation from its main competitors. Something that was synonymous with Twitter’s identity has now been replaced, as a result of increasing the character count to 280, with an approach similar to many other social media platforms. This, coupled with lack of focus on improving its advertising functionality has resulted in brands investing in other social platforms in order to reach their identified audiences.
Throughout 2017, LinkedIn presented new opportunities for B2B and B2C brands with improvements to the user interface of its advertising functionality. LinkedIn has evolved from what was once akin to a CV and job search platform, to a hub of organic content, constantly growing and evolving. With improvements to LinkedIn pulse content publishing capabilities, seamless integration into news feeds, enhanced video content capabilities, networking/influencing and personal brand building opportunities, LinkedIn is now the place to be for brands and businesses looking to connect with highly targeted audiences in innovative, engaging ways in 2018.
LinkedIn presents email marketers in particular with huge power and opportunity for lead generation by adding value before the all-important pitch of products or services. With customer experience a key focus for marketers in 2018, creating this natural, organic sales funnel is key to future multi-channel success.
Social media and the Twitter/Linkedin battle5
